The feeling of someone stroking his head brought Fox out of his deep sleep. The faint scent of cigarettes told him that it was Amos who had him now, and that he was likely back in his fox form, since he was being held in the man's arm. He felt some sort of static coming from their bond, but it didn't seem like Amos was actually trying to talk to him.

When the gentle pets turned into careful hugs, Fox blinked open his eyes halfway. Amos' right hand began running its fingers through the fur along Fox's back as his left hand held him closer, putting Fox's head close to resting on the man's shoulder.

The petting went on for a while, but for once, he decided not to intervene in the attention. Amos wasn't being rude or uncomfortably touchy so he didn't mind.

Never thought I'd think that.

The petting stopped abruptly and the hug loosened a bit.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up."

His voice sounds a bit funny.

Amos got up, then carefully set Fox down on the sofa cushion before heading out onto a balcony past a sliding glass door. As he moved, his right hand slid into his back pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

Withholding his thought of disgust, Fox slowly followed the guy out onto the cement landing through the small gap he'd left in the doorway. It was chilly, but his coat easily whisked away the majority of it, leaving only his nose a bit cold. Ducking his head from a particularly harsh gust of wind, Fox waited for it to pass before looking up at Amos.

He'd expected the man to be staring at him, since it seemed to be his habit, but his back was actually turned to him as he leaned on a railing, a cigarette between his fingers.

Should I say something here? Is that the right thing for this kind of situation?

He had no idea.

Of course, he'd seen many things in his life on his own. Observed people reacting to similar situations many different ways... but there had never seemed to be a definitive right way.

Maybe I should just...

He walked a little closer, then lied down against the man's leg with his chin resting on Amos' socked foot. The breeze thankfully blew away the cigarette smoke, making the quiet night actually quite comfortable.

They remained that way as Amos went through his cigarette, then got out a second one. Fox tilted his left ear as he watched the man raise the second cancer stick to his lips, but right before he was able to light it, a hand appeared from behind him and took the item.

Fox stood and took a step back as he watched Owen take the half-empty pack of cigarettes and return the one he'd taken to the package, then slide it into Amos' back pocket. Amos remained facing away for a few more moments before he slowly turned around and leaned slightly back against the railing. The wind made his T-shirt billow and tousled his dark hair.

It was too dark to get a good look at his expression, but Fox felt an unfamiliar weight in his chest.

Owen glanced down at him for just a moment before reaching up and placing a hand on either side of Amos' face. His thumbs moved beneath the other man's eyes, then he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

Fox expected him to pull away at that point, but when he stayed, Amos slowly moved one arm around the man's waist, then added his other one after a few tense moments, pulling Owen gently against him.

Time passed slowly but Fox made sure to pay attention. Owen had said earlier that most lessons occurred when they were not intentionally being taught. He wanted to know the answer to the lesson he was observing so that next time, he could help, too.

"Let's go inside. You're shivering, Owe," Amos finally said as he removed his arms from around the other man, then took one of his hands to lead him back inside.

Fox twitched his nose before following. The door was slid shut behind him, allowing the warmth inside to start thawing his frozen nose. The two headed down the hall, then disappeared into a room. Fox considered following, but he didn't want to be a bother. Amos was clearly upset about something, and Owen knew how to handle it.

I don't... yet.

Sitting down at the entrance to the hallway, he glanced around in the darkness nonchalantly, contemplating what he should do now. He was just turning to hop up onto the sofa and get busy cleaning his butthole when his ears perked up and he glanced toward the hall again.

Amos was walking toward him quickly, his shirt having magically gone missing and his pants in the same predicament. Fox didn't mind that he was just in a pair of boxers when he stopped in front of him and leaned over. He gave him plenty of time to express his dislike as he picked him up, but Fox simply looked up at the sad eyes that stared down at him.

Going through the previous lesson in his mind, he lifted his front paws and put them on either side of Amos' face. It was a bit awkward since he had to stretch upward because Amos was holding him, but he managed it decently enough. When Amos cracked a small smile at his actions Fox felt his body grow warm and his limbs shift, leaving his human form standing against Amos with his hands on either side of his face and the man's arms wrapped around his waist.

"Hey there, cutie," he whispered as he leaned down.

Fox let his hands slip from the man's face to settle on his shoulders as Amos pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Aren't I supposed to do that?

He went back over the lesson out on the balcony in his head, but before he could figure out how to react to the current situation, Amos chuckled and rustled his hair, breaking his train of thought.

"Wait for me with Owen? I need to take a quick shower," Amos said with a warming smile before he turned and headed down the hall.

Fox followed automatically, but when they walked in front of an open door, he hesitated. Owen was already in bed and beneath the covers. The comfort of the man's scent, as opposed to Amos' cigarette one, called to him, but at the same time, he felt like the lesson he'd been trying to figure out wasn't quite over.

He's smiling now, but still seems a bit odd.

Deciding to press on, he walked into the bathroom at the end of the hall. Amos was leaning over the bathtub, his boxers gone, setting up the shower temperature.

Don't try to sniff his butt. He's not a fox or a dog.

A snort of a laugh came from the man as he straightened and turned toward him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not against it, but Owen will beat me up if I even joke about something like that, so we'll say let's not do that when greeting people."

Fox rolled his eyes, earning another chuckle before Amos climbed into the shower and tugged the curtain closed.

Curiosity drew him closer to the shower. He hadn't had one in many years, but he definitely enjoyed baths. Judging from the steam that was building in the room, he figured that it couldn't be much different.

Turning, he glanced out the open door, contemplating whether he should or shouldn't get in the shower with another person.

There was definitely a lesson about getting naked in front of other people...

He pursed his lips and tried to find said lesson in his mind, but before he could pinpoint it, an arm wrapped around his chest and he was being lifted backward into the shower with a surprised yip.

"I'll never be against you taking a shower with me, Fox. Just don't do it in front of anyone else... except maybe Owen. He might ravage you though, fair warning."

"Rav... age?" Fox questioned, confused by the unknown word.

Shaking his head, Amos grabbed the detachable showerhead and held it above Fox's head. His instincts told him to try to get away from the abrupt, unknown item, but he managed to hold himself back, just barely. Instead, he stepped forward, nearly up against Amos, then looked up at the silver object.

Of course, he'd had a shower years ago, but those memories were no longer reachable. Lifting one arm, he hesitantly swiped his hand through the warm water. When nothing bad happened, he did it again, then again.

"I think I need to change your nickname to Kitten."

Fox tilted his head and looked over his shoulder up at Amos while one of his hands was still raised for another swipe.

"Would you like to wash up, since you're here?" Amos asked as he lowered the showerhead so that it sprayed over Fox's chest and legs.

Wash. I guess I haven't really cleaned myself in a while... except with my tongue.

Realizing that Amos was still waiting for an answer and hadn't heard his thought, Fox licked his lips and went through his mind for the vocabulary.

"Okay, I will wash."

Amos reached up with his free hand and mussed up Fox's wet hair before reaching past him and retrieving a bottle. Fox took it, but when he tried to yank the lid off and it didn't budge, Amos snickered and took it back after placing the showerhead up where it had originally been.

Within a second he had the lid twisted off and was squirting a good amount of thick white liquid onto his palm.

"Turn around and close your eyes for me, please," Amos asked.

"Damn, there's an innuendo here."

Fox obeyed immediately but ignored whatever Amos said afterward since he didn't understand it. He was grateful when he found it much easier to calm his instincts when he felt the man's fingers begin to massage the soap into his hair. Amos took his time on the task, but he wasn't complaining. The attention actually felt really good.

"Careful not to open your eyes. This soap can hurt if you get it in them," Amos said as Fox heard the shower curtain pull to the side.

Wait, is he getting out?

The idea that he was leaving him standing there with soap running down the front of his face made Fox begin to feel uneasy. He was just about to turn around and move under the water to wash it all off when he felt a hand settle against the side of his face, then slowly drift into his soapy hair.

"Someone got jealous."

Fox almost opened his eyes at Amos' words, but he remembered the soap at the last second. The hand eventually slid from his hair and was replaced with the gentle spray of water from the showerhead.

"Well, since you're rinsing off the shampoo, I guess I'll just wash his body for hi—" the sound of a growl cut Amos off, making the guy groan.

"I swear I was behaving," he mumbled.

By that point the shampoo was gone from his face and Fox opened his eyes to see Owen looking past him with his upper lip raised, baring his teeth.

"Down boy. Sharing is caring," Amos taunted with humor in his words.

Fox thought that Owen might get angrier at the jab, but he actually took a deep breath, then sighed it out as his body relaxed. When he raised his eyes to meet his a few moments later, Fox straightened his shoulders.

"Are you okay with another lesson right now, Fox?"

His voice sounded tired and gruff as he spoke, but Fox quickly nodded, more than happy to learn more.

Before he could voice his approval, Owen's form wavered, then shrank down into his animal shift. Elated, Fox dropped to his knees and was just reaching out to grab Owen when he remembered that his animal side didn't like being handled much. So, instead, he just leaned back on his heels and clasped his hands together, wiggling a little as he tried to hold in his excitement.

He moved aside as best he could as the fox started walking toward the front of the shower to get under the water. Once it was good and soaked it returned to the back, then sat down and flicked one ear.

"He wants you to wash his fox, Fox," Amos said helpfully, drawing Fox's attention for a moment before he looked back toward Owen.

He was about to say that he wasn't sure what that entailed, considering the amount of bottles in the shower, but thankfully Amos tapped his shoulder with a specific one from out of the shower. Fox took it as the man winked, then nodded toward Owen.

"Do it like I did and he'll fall in love with you," Amos teased before pulling the shower curtain back and beginning to dry off beyond it.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity to give Owen's fox attention, Fox added a bunch of the soap he'd been given to his hand, then quickly began massaging it through Owen's coat. The fox turned here and there as Fox worked, scrubbing him thoroughly all over.

No dirt ran from its fur, unlike when Amos had been washing Fox's hair. It wasn't a surprise, though. Owen kept himself meticulously clean. His fox was clearly no exception.

Once he was content with his job, and Owen's fox was a fluffy bubble monster, Fox stood up and grabbed the detachable showerhead, then carefully began rinsing out his coat. It took quite a while, but he did remember how itchy soap could be if it didn't get completely washed out of his fur. He definitely didn't want Owen to be uncomfortable.

A short while later he finally stood back up and set the showerhead in its holder. The water was starting to cool, too, so it was a good thing that he was done.

He turned it off before returning to his knees, unable to help wanting to just stare at Owen. His fox was gorgeous, and mature, and he really wanted to just cuddle it. He doesn't like his fox being handled, though. Just as he was finishing that thought Owen's fox shook its coat out, then slowly walked forward and sat in front of him. It then lifted its front paws up to his shoulders as his back legs extended.

Wait. Is he telling me that I can give him some more attention?

Fox hesitantly reached out, and when there was no growl or baring of teeth, he carefully lifted Owen's fox up over his head. His grin stretched to the point of being painful, but he was so happy to just be allowed to touch him.

He was just starting to lower the fox down into his arms when the animal suddenly disappeared and was replaced with Owen's human form. Thankfully, he caught himself on his hands and knees, but the sudden weight beforehand had Fox's back to the floor of the shower. His instincts went straight to panic mode, but when his eyes met Owen's dark ones, he realized that he wasn't going to hurt him.

He's not going to attack you. Calm down, heart.

A deep chuckle sounded in the back of his mind before Amos replied; Oh, he just might. You might like it, though.

Confused, Fox furrowed his brow. The action seemed to snap Owen out of his daze, because the man quickly got himself up, then out of the shower with a whispered "I'm sorry."

Dazed, Fox stared up at the ceiling, frowning as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

I... Wait. What was the lesson he'd come in here to teach me?